Sconex

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Sconex is an online directory and social networking service for high school students which was started on April 25, 2004. Sconex accounts can be created by invitation from existing members or by using any valid e-mail address. Users are able to post their class schedules, make photo albums, keep an online journal in their "Notebook", leave messages at their friends' blackboards (which are like little messageboxes), join Sconex-based groups, and enter lists of their favorite celebrities, films, books, songs, TV shows, and videogames.

As of December 5, 2006, Alexa ranks Sconex as the 13,139th most popular site on the web.[1]

1 Copyright
2 Costs
3 Social Networking
4 Privacy
5 Controversy
6 Censorship
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Copyright

According to Sconex's copyright policy, all content posted on Sconex becomes the property of Sconex.

[edit] Costs

Sconex is supported by both graphical ads and Google's AdSense. However, unlike many other services, Sconex does not have an option for a paid account with more features.

[edit] Social Networking

Users can search for friends and classmates by name, year, gender, school, and matches in class registration. Like other social networking sites, a user may add "friends" with little or no actual connection to himself or herself. Unlike some other networking sites, Sconex does not strictly limit the number of friends a user may have, allowing for "friends" lists which, albeit rarely, reach into the thousands. In general, the features are comparable to other major social networking sites, including MySpace and Facebook. The target demographic is notably different, however, as Sconex actively seeks a high school audience, and is particularly popular in urban high schools.

[edit] Privacy

A user specifies the amount of security on parts of his account. This involves who is allowed to view certain information they post. This can be configured to allow or disallow four groups of users. These are "Friends", "Classmates", "Friends' Friends" and "Friends' Classmates". The default settings are usually balanced. For example, one's contact information, if posted, such as a user's telephone number, can only be seen by that person's "friends." In contrast, one's list of "friends" can be viewed by anybody who fits any of those four groups. Anybody who does not fit any of the four categories can not view any of the user's information. Sconex asserts that a brief multiple choice test prevents people from misrepresenting themselves as students at a particular high school.

[edit] Controversy

The posting of sexually-suggestive and explicit pictures by high school-aged Sconex users has sparked concern among many parents and users. It has been suggested that Sconex Representatives play a more active role in the moderation of content.